More than 40 international delegates attended the relaunch of English in Education under its new publisher at the June 2018 conference of the International Federation for the teaching of English, held in Birmingham, UK. Later that evening, the Editorial Board discussed the future development of the journal, which will appear four times a year from 2020. Traditionally, we have published one special issue per year, but the increased number of pages in each volume will allow us to offer further special issues when required. The Editorial Board considers that such matters as the nature of subject English, English and multilingualism, and social media and English education are among current concerns that demand attention. You will find at the end of this issue calls for papers for two special issues that relate to some of these concerns.
A special issue may be distinct in more than one manner. The Spring 2019 issue on Writing, edited by Jeni Smith and Mari Cruice, will present not only research into the practice and teaching of writing but will also demonstrate the creativity that is released amongst both teachers and students when writing is nurtured in the classroom to augment personal and social meaning, and indeed pleasure. The initiative of the previous editor, Sue Dymoke, who instituted a regular “place for poetry”, established a deep connection in the journal between creativity and English education; this forthcoming special issue, edited by members of NATE UK’s National Writing Project, will develop this connection in exciting ways.
The current issue is distinct in both the range and the quality of its research. Ann Harris and Marie Helks offer a critical consideration of the debates in England and Wales around grammar and grammatical terminology. Mary Juswik and her colleagues use student essays to compare different approaches to argumentative writing, revealing the possibilities and benefits of engaging students in a broader social conversation. Todd Reynolds and Bethany Townsend examine transcripts of whole class discussions led by English teachers with differing views of the teacher role in such discussions. Yvette Murdoch and Alin Kang examine the connections between teachers’ learning and use of students’ names and student experience and outcomes within the English as a Medium of Instruction classroom. Poetry is not forgotten: Ian McEwen’s Poetry is Not for Kids makes a spirited riposte to the UK Secretary of State for Education’s withdrawal of the A-level (senior secondary) qualification in Creative Writing:
Poetry is not for kids.
They might decide to write it!
– while Stewart Manley, a lecturer in Trust Law, shows that students’ and teachers’ “home-made poetry” can aid learning of other disciplines and increase authenticity in the classroom.
Books reviewed in this issue include Melanie Shoffner’s exploration of the representation of teachers in fiction and film, appraised by Ann Harris, and two edited collections on the teaching of literature that, in the words of Victoria Elliott, posit English as a conversation between students, texts and teachers – albeit not an unproblematic conversation, given its current social and political contexts.
Your response to our plans for the journal is welcome, as are ideas and contributions for future issues. Please contact me at the email address below.As we go to press we hear of the death of Emeritus Professor Ronald Carter of the University of Nottingham. Ron had a global influence on the understanding and teaching of English. A full appreciation will be published in the spring 2019 issue of the journal.